Chapter 25
Andrew found himself having to choose between three options. He could use his telekinesis to gently slip the Changeling's hooves off himself, and slide her away to her side of the bedroll. However, if he did this, it would likely cause her to suffer more of her recurrent nightmares. It seemed like the only surefire way to keep her sleeping soundly was if she had something to hold; even a pillow was enough. Unfortunately, the only pillow her unconscious body had successfully sought out was him, prompting his premature awakening.
Another problem with this option was the possibility that he would wake up again later in the night and have to repeat the process.
Of course, he could also just ignore it completely and fall back asleep again. The situation didn't exactly make him uncomfortable, since he was the only one even aware of it. The true problem was if they both were awake at the same time... That was something he would very much rather avoid.
He thanked the stars that she was only a pony... Well, Changeling... He didn't think he would be able to stay so calm in a similar situation with a woman. Here, he could just pretend she was nothing more than an oversized clingy dog. Was that offensive? He felt like that was something better off unsaid.
Unfortunately, his body seemed to make the decision for him, as he found himself waking up to a ray of morning light in his eye, courtesy of a crack in the wall.
He pried himself from the Changeling's grip and slipped out-out of the bedroll. Almost immediately after, Chrysalis's hooves began to paw at the now empty space, and her expression twitched almost painfully.
He almost felt somewhat guilty, but there wasn't anything he could do. Perhaps she was used to sleeping while surrounded by her children? It made sense to him at least.
He checked the coin purse Celestia had given him, remembering how it shone the night before. At the top of the heap of coins inside was a letter from the princesses. It detailed how there was already evidence of there being bounties placed on Chrysalis and his heads in the underworld, and that they should return to Canterlot as soon as possible.
They already knew that there would be people out to get them, but he still had some difficulty accepting that Equestria even had a criminal underworld. He placed the letter next to Chrysalis so she could read it when she awoke, then went outside and spent the next few hours exercising his powers. When Chrysalis finally came outside, there were about a dozen fewer trees around and a large pile of lumber and shredded wood in one corner.
Andrew turned to her when he noticed she was up. She looked like she hadn't slept a wink, and the black of her carapace made the sheen of sweat covering her all the more Apparent.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
She shook her head, "No, just an unpleasant dream. I saw that letter Celestia sent us."
"Yeah, I just thought you might want to read it, even if we don't go back."
She huffed in acknowledgment before setting off in the direction of the treeline.
He called after her to see if she needed help with something.
"I assure you," she began, "I don't and never will require assistance in relieving myself."
That shut him up.
The next three days became routine. Andrew would always wake up early, though he never did find a way to stop the changeling from trying to cling to something in her sleep, said something usually being him simply due to a lack of options. He would go outside and let loose his imagination on the hapless trees in the vicinity. Chrysalis would come outside hours later looking like she had just galloped a mile while forgoing sleep for a day. Andrew would continue spending most of the day practicing his powers, all while she watched in silence, occasionally striking up in idle conversation.
"Bad news," Chrysalis said as she exited the ruins.
Andrew set down the mass of leaves he was levitating around the trunk of the tree they were stripped from. He turned to the changeling and asked, "What's wrong?"
"We're out of food rations," she answered.
"Oh..." Andrew replied, "So what do we do about food now?"
Chrysalis rolled her eyes at him. "We starve."
"What?" The human asked incredulously.
She brought a hoof to her face and groaned. "We hunt."
"Oh, right, obviously," he stammered.
"Obviously," she parroted. "You've never hunted before, have you?"
He shook his head.
"No matter," she commented. "With my magic and your powers, neither one of us should have any trouble taking down game."
"Are you sure you have enough magic to be hunting?" Andrew asked curiously. That fight at the castle must have surely made some sort of dent in her reserves of magic, and as far as he could see, she didn't have a way of getting more for the time being. she said before that she had enough to survive weeks, but that was before she had to fight for her life.
"Truthfully, no," she admitted. "You probably think I used more magic than I actually did back in Canterlot, but even still I don't want to go around throwing away my very life force unless needed. Besides, from what I can tell, you can use your powers twenty-four seven like it's nothing. I'm sure taking care of our food shouldn't be that difficult for you.
"Alright then," Andrew replied. "How exactly are we going to do this."
"We walk in a straight line and you kill the first thing we see that can fill our stomachs."
"That's it?" Andrew questioned. "What about the tracking? The traps? Isn't a hunt supposed to have, like, an actual hunt?"
Chrysalis chuckled at his confusion. "I suppose humans would think that way," she pointed to her horn, "but I am no Griffon, and you are far more than just human."
Andrew made an 'o' face as he realized what she was trying to say.
"Exactly," Chrysalis stated.
Just as Chrysalis had suggested, they walked in a straight line side by side through the woods in search of the day's meal.
"So why exactly are you making a mess of the trees back there?" Chrysalis asked as they walked.
He only shrugged.
"I don't understand how such a simple question could upset you so much."
He sighed, unclenching a fist he didn't notice had curled. "Back at the castle, I... I should have been—"
"—We've been over this, Andrew."
"I know..." He admitted. "It's just... I still think I could have—"
"You could have, you should have, you didn't," Chrysalis said. "Accept it and move on with your life. This wasn't the first time you've been attacked, right?"
"No, but you already knew—"
"And when you were under attack from your world's law enforcement, was that less or more dangerous than what happened in Canterlot."
He opened his mouth to say something else, but closed it and decided to simply answer her. "More, I just thought that I—"
"Would be able to instantly take down a pony that has years of combat training on top of being able to use magic, something that you only recently discovered was real?"
"I... I guess." Andrew said, defeated.
"No need to beat yourself up over it," Chrysalis said. "We both obviously held back so as not to kill those guards, just keep in mind you have no reason to pull your punches if some random minotaur tries to come at you with a dagger."
Andrew was about to respond when the changeling suddenly stopped, her ears facing forward, listening for sounds his human ears were incapable of picking up.
"What are you—"
She lifted a hoof to silence him, still facing forward.
He trained his eyes ahead, trying to see if he could see whatever it was he couldn't hear. He didn't see anything at first, but after a few moments the head of a dear poked up from behind a row of bushes about a dozen feet ahead.
Andrew decided to take care of it before he was asked. He had no idea where the heart of a deer was located, and even if he did, all he could see was the animal's head and neck. Working with what he had, he used his telekinesis to keep the deer's neck in place while twisting the head around. The animal was dead before it hit the ground.
That was easy.
"Good job," Chrysalis commented as she started to walk again, with him following closely behind. "Magic makes hunting far easier, but even then, the glow of a horn might have gained its attention just long enough for it to run away."
"I've never hunted my own food before," Andrew said. "It's kind of..." He tried looking for the right words.
"Exciting?"
He smiled faintly, "Yeah, though it wasn't actually much of a hunt."
As the changeling walked around the line of bushes to survey his kill, she said, "Well, I don't think your stomach will care very much when all is said and—"
"What's wrong?" Andrew asked rounding the corner and looked at his kill.
The deer had fallen on its side facing them, it's eyes completely open as it stared at its killer. That wasn't what caught their attention, however. They expected to find a body here. What they didn't expect to see, however, was the fawn that looked at them with a mixture of fear and curiosity. It took its eyes off them and brought its head down to nudge its mother's side.
All Andrew could see was a dead child whose mother was taken from him by powers beyond their control.
All he could see was himself.
"Are you sure this will work?" Chrysalis asked.
"I don't know," Andrew answered. "She probably isn't back from the Crystal Empire, but I doubt all those animals just up and left on their own, I'm sure somebody is taking care of them while she's away."
They were hiding deep within the treeline facing Fluttershy's cottage. He had left the orphaned fawn at the doorstep and knocked on the door from a distance with his telekinesis while making sure it didn't see where they were. After a few moments, he could see a rabbit's head in one of the windows. A few moments later, the door opened and the fawn was surrounded by dozens of animals. It stood shaking, then began calling out, presumably for its mother. With a combined effort of pushing and pulling, the critters lead the fawn inside. Even after the door closed, its calls could still be faintly heard.
Andrew turned back around. Chrysalis had the deer's body slung across her back. He had made sure that the fawn didn't have to face its mother after he had decided to drop it off here.
A few minutes into their journey back to the castle ruins, Chrysalis said, "I know how you feel, but don't suddenly decide you aren't going to eat this deer just because it happened to be a mother." She didn't give him a chance to respond before continuing with, "You realize that you're the reason we went out and killed this thing, right? Love is one thing, but I can survive nearly a month with barely any physical sustenance. Animals kill each other to survive, and animals die every day, big or small, young or old." She scoffed, "You're the last person I would imagine having this conversation with."
She was right, of course. Andrew recalled how he had filmed himself alone in a junkyard ranting about natural selection.
"There’s this thing called an Apex Predator, and basically what that is the most powerful predator in an ecosystem. And humans, you know, we’re the apex predator, because there’s nothing that preys on us, 'cause of weapons and stuff. But if something could, I bet it would. I... I mean, what I’m trying to say is, a lion doesn’t feel guilty when it kills a gazelle. You don’t feel guilty when you squash a fly, you know... I think that means something. I think it really means something."
He felt nothing for the deer when he killed it. It wasn't the first time he had taken life, and it likely wouldn't be the last. It was that damn fawn. It reminded him too much of his mother's death and he was weak enough to let it get to him. He hated himself for that.
"Again with the self-pity?" Chrysalis commented, reading his emotions like they were an open book, which they might as well be for the changeling. "Despite what the element bearers or Celestia would have you believe, this world is just as much kill or be killed as yours. Both of us intimately know what that means in ways no one else could possibly understand. You did not kill this animal only to leave its carcass for the wolves, got it?"
What else could he do but nod in agreement?
"Good, now, do you have any knives in your bag to skin this thing?"
"I don't think so, but I think I could try cutting it with my powers."
Chrysalis gave him a curious glance. "I've heard of conjuring magic blades, but I've never thought of one made using telekinesis."
He shrugged replied with, "it shouldn't be too hard."
As it turned out, it truly wasn't much of a challenge. With the wood Andrew had accrued from his days of practice and a simple spell from Chrysalis, they had set up a healthy campfire in the clearing outside the ruins. Making a knife with his telekinesis was one of the easier things he had done. All he really needed to do was picture a sharp edge, and unlike an actual blade, this one could cut without getting dull. On top of that, it could be as sharp as he could reasonably imagine it to be.
"We need to buy some salt," Andrew stated as he swallowed another bite of venison.
Chrysalis grumbled in agreement as she chewed her own food. She may be able to go a long time without food, but that didn't mean she would refuse a meal. "When your friend died, was that the first time you lost someone you cared about?"
He nodded.
"Don't worry, it gets better," she assured him. "Eventually you'll find that months pass in-between thoughts of them."
He frowned, "I can't tell if that's supposed to be good or bad."
"Does it matter?" The changeling asked. "You're still dealing with the first deaths in your life, those are always the hardest, but you've already been through the worst of it."
"What about you?" He asked.
She was about to take another bite when she stopped. "I lost all my siblings and mother when I was younger, so I taught myself how to regulate my emotions to cope."
Feeling that now was as good a time as any, Andrew explained how Luna wanted to bring him into her dreams to help with her nightmares.
"How bad is it?" Chrysalis asked. When she saw the confusion on his face she elaborated with, "When I'm sleeping, how obvious is it?"
"Pretty obvious," he answered.
She tsked in frustration, "Better late than never I suppose. That damn alicorn thinks that having power over dreamwalking trumps everyone else's right to privacy." She stood up "We probably shouldn't stay in this forest for much longer. If what that letter said was true, then for all we know we might have someone on our tail at this very moment.”
"You really think so?" The human asked.
"I don't plan on waiting long enough to find out," she replied.
"Can you fly? Are your wings healed?"
She answered his question by opening her elytron and unfurling her membranous wings. They gave off a bright sheen under the afternoon sun. Her elytron closed again but seemed to phase through her wings with a green outline as it settled back on her back.
She breathed a sigh of relief, "Much better, I'm not really used to keeping my wings covered for any length of time."
He placed the dirty pans in a bag and placed it in the roomy luggage bag.
"So we're heading west then, correct?" Chrysalis asked as she looked at what he assumed was westward.
"Yeah, maybe southwest," he answered.
The changeling's ears perked up, and she began to look around.
"Something wrong?" He asked.
"Do you not hear that?"
He shrugged, even though she wasn't even facing him. "Human's don't exactly have the best hearing..."
She ignored his comment, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the castle ruins when she said, "Something's coming. Something big."
He tried to follow her gaze, but all he saw was the mossy, overgrown walls of the long-abandoned building. He was about to speak when Chrysalis beat him to it.
"We need to leave, now."
Though still confused, he took her advice to heart and began to pack away the rest of his belongings without complaint.
It didn't take long for him to finally feel whatever it was Chrysalis had been hearing. And if the shaking of the ground was any indication, this thing was big. They began to hear trees being forcibly felled, the snapping of bark and the thunderous crashes filled the air. Right after he finally finished his preparations to leave, a manticore shot out of the treeline behind the castle.
Just behind the beast's tail was a brown, serpentine head that snapped its jaws in an attempt to catch its prey. The head alone was nearly as large as the manticore and shot forward from the treeline on a long neck. The attack was reminiscent of a cobra strike in its speed, but ultimately just barely missed its target. Even from this distance, he could plainly see the serpent's huge, marble white teeth. He didn't want to get a closer look.
The manticore sprinted across the clearing, clearly running for its life. Andrew prepared to defend himself if need be, but the animal completely avoided them as it ran back into the forest behind them. The serpent raised its head above the canopy as the rest of its body broke through the treeline and into the clearing, three more necks rose and hovered on either side of the first.
"Hydra!" Chrysalis said as she spread her wings. "Andrew, we need to—"
Andrew looked over at the changeling to see why she stopped speaking and saw a dart protruding from the side of her neck. She looked down at the dart and immediately yanked it out with her magic. He saw movement in the corner of his eye and looked down to see a second dart fall to the floor at his feet, this one clearly intended for him.
Chrysalis's wings went limp, and her eyes began to close. "Run," she pleaded before succumbing to the drug's effects and collapsing on the ground.
He called out to her, but it was useless, she was already unconscious. He wanted to look around to see where the dart had come from, but instead, he ended up locking eyes with the hydra. Or at least, he locked eyes with one of the heads. The rest of the heads were looking in the direction that the manticore had run. The rest of the heads took notice of him as well, and they examined him for a moment before looking at one another, as if striking up some sort of conversation among themselves. He took the opportunity to run over to the fallen changeling and picking her up. He thanked whatever magic made her so much lighter than she looked. His movement drew the attention of two heads, and with speed that its hulking frame shouldn't have been capable of, it closed the distance between them. The hydra raised its right leg and swiped at him.
Andrew let go of the changeling and blew her across the clearing, trying his best to break her fall even as he brought his hands up to shield himself from the hydra's incoming blow.
Either he overestimated his own strength, or underestimated the hydra's, whatever it was, he found his world spinning before coming to a violent stop. When he realized he was on the ground, he stood up and took a moment to look down at his body. He was fine. Unsurprising, considering Matt—who was far weaker than him—was fine even after Andrew had forced a bus to crash into his cousin in midair and further sandwiched him between the vehicle and a building. However, this was no bus, this was towering monster that, whatever it may have seen in him, didn't particularly care. On top of that, someone had shot those tranquilizing darts at him and Chrys—
He cursed out loud, looking at the opposite side of the clearing. Chrysalis's body was floating through the air, wrapped in an orange aura of magic. He stretched out his hand and blanketed the downed changeling in his telekinesis, causing her body to become shrouded in hissing smoke. The hydra was already lumbering towards him again, two heads seemed to be interested in what was going on with the body behind it, but the other two were licking their lips at the sight of Andrew's exotic flesh.
He had to relinquish his hold on Chrysalis when the hydra brought a claw up, preparing to crush him. Having learned his lesson with the previous strike, he dove to the left with the aid of a burst of telekinesis. He tumbled inelegantly beside the claw as it hit the ground. He used another burst of telekinesis to bring himself to a standing position, stumbling as he pushed himself forward with just a tad too much force. One of the heads rushed down towards him, and he reacted by outstretching both hands forwards and making a crushing motion with each.
The creature's head snapped back with a cry of pain, a mix of blood and white goo oozing out of each partially sunken socket. The other heads seemed not to feel their sibling's pain, but what they lacked in shared pain was more than made up for with anger.
The other heads spread out as the now-sightless hydra sought safety by huddling close to the base of their shared chest. The hydra eyed him wearily now, not understanding what he had done. Chrysalis's body appeared behind the hydra's right side, hidden by its large frame until then. Trying to give away that he was looking at the changeling, he shrouded her in his power again. Unfortunately, the hiss of the resulting steam once again attracted unwanted attention.
The leftmost head twirled around and saw the floating meal ready for the taking. It rushed forward to claim the free food, forcing the rest of the heads to move away from Andrew. Not having time to do anything else, he tried to cover her in a protective bubble. It turned out to be unnecessary when a blast of orange magic coming from the forest hit the attacking head right between the eyes. It didn't seem to maim it, but it did pull its head back and look in the direction of the offending bolt.
Andrew followed its gaze, and at the first hint of movement he reached out with a large net of telekinesis and pulled. A cloaked figure was dragged through the ground and into the clearing. The cloaked pony cried out, a stallion from the sound of it. The hydra again began to close in, this time on the stallion, but for once was too slow. The stallion, still on the ground, opted to teleport a short distance to his left just before the hydra clamped its mouth shut at the location he had been in just an instant before. Taking his opportunity, Andrew grabbed onto the stallion again and flung him through the air in front of the hydra and towards the other side.
Like a canine presented with a ball, the hydra's various heads snapped at the pony as he sailed through the air, screaming all the while. He grabbed Chrysalis one final time with his powers as well as—upon remembering—his belongings. He grabbed onto the changeling's body when she was close enough and looked back down one final time.
He couldn't see the pony, but the blinded head was clearly chewing something, leathery lips stained red. The last thing he saw before turning around was a flash of green hitting the hydra.
He flew as fast as his powers would let him, not caring where he was heading, only focused on getting the hell away from there.
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Noice.
I wonder if that was an assassin.
I wish for more. Yummy words are yummy.
So telekinesis human vs the Equestria underworld has begun.
Street Justice has been delivered onto the would-be assassin, fed to a hydra.
8721519
nah, remember when they said that some people like "collecting" endlings, or something similar?
8721601
Right right. Forgot about that.
Oh c'mon, Andrew, being a living pillow isn't so bad.
Welp, that pony shouldn't have tried that.
'her horn, "but I am no Griffon, and you are far more than just human.' - missing ending quotation mark.
'Andrew leg go' - let
I thought the knife was + the hydra was foreshadowing him severing its heads, and due to knowledge of how heads works, I partially expected him to throw the damn thing after its heads had been cut off into the distance due to the dart in Chrysalis.
Could imagine the poachers reactions to that, would be amazing.
Also find it odd they didn't attempt to hit Andrew with the dart.
8728393
There was a second dart that failed to hit Andrew. Also, I did consider having him make some heads roll with the hydra but I wanted to emphasize how little true combat experience he has. If he was a calm and collected fighter, it likely would have ended much quicker and bloodier, but most of what he did was dodge and just try to stay alive in the face of a monster several stories tall while at the same time trying to keep an eye on Chrysalis.
He will get better in time, very much so.
8729362
Fair nuff.
Man this guy is a pathetic fighter
8791388
Yes because someone who has had no training what so ever is supposed to be able to take down a legendary beast that even Hercules himself had trouble fighting...
Looking very much forward to the upcoming chapters. Damn good story!
8729362
i just found this in a forum... cover art is amazing... i havent started it yet but by the looks of it.... it looks like a badass of a story. DEFINITELY going in my favorites
just finished the story and i hope this story doesn't die like the stallion did
lol
I hope you didn't stop the story it's amazing
Is this story dead? :(
Just when it was getting cool with the action and adventure
Nooo I was enjoying this! It’s rare to find a story where chrysalis ain’t the villain and the ponies get a dose of the medicine that is the real world and what they done to a species. Hope to see more and the story not die like all the decent ones it seems!
Ooh can’t wait for more
*looks at last date of last chspter*
Now I feel how the readers of my story feel
You plan on continuing the story
*pokes story with a stick*... is it dead?
10803660
*Looks at author information and sees -OFFLINE last seen Mar 30th, 2019*
Well...
If some other author wants to continue ....
If the account wasn't logged into since 2019 and the story wasn't updated since 2018, I don't ink anyone would have a problem
This is one of the earliest fics I read and still remember the name of. Sad to see it go but glad it was here.
I really hope the author comes back to make another chapter or finish this story. Reading this has been simply REMARKABLE.
Author, if you're reading this, I hope this story isn't dead.
11054292
If you've never seen it, Apple.mov on youtube. That series of videos changed my life, maybe not for the better though.
Good stuff
And then eventually years, then one day you're doing something and turn to ask them a question, only to realize all over again.